Patricia MacLachlan, who is a children's literature teacher, a literacy advocate, and a cellist, is perhaps best known for writing a modern classic: Sarah, Plain and Tall. Winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal, the Scott O'Dell Award, the Christopher Medal, and the Golden Kite Award, it's a spare, fifty-six page story of love, about the heroics of everyday life. Born on March 3rd in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Patricia MacLachlan spent several years in Minnesota before settling in Connecticut. She graduated from the University there and married a psychologist. She didn't start writing until she was thirty-five, after her three children were in school. Before her first title, The Sick Day, appeared in 1979, she read more than forty children's books per week, learning her craft. Today, her writing has won many awards. Read the sequels to Sarah, Skylark and Caleb's Story. Other stories about family life that you're sure to enjoy includeThrough Grandpa's Eyes, Unclaimed Treasures, and Mama One, Mama Two.